Device for firing blank cartridges before microphones



March m 1942 T, M YNA D zmws DEVICE FOR FIRING BLANK CARTRIDGES BEFORE AMICROPHONE Filed Nov. 25, 1939 '2 SheetsShee't l /9 INVENTOR Z Tod MagwdA ORNEY Mawh m 1942. T. MAYNARD 2, 7

DEVICE FOR FIRING BLANK CARTRIDGES BEFORE A MICROPHONE Filed NOV. 25,1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Patented Mar. 10, 1942 DEVICE FOR FIRINGBLANK CARTRIDGES BEFORE MICROPHONES 8 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in devices for firing blankcartridges before a microphone.

It has been found in radio broadcasting and moving picture productionthat the only realistic sound which will simulate the sound of gunshots,is the actual explosion of a cartridge. Certain difliculties, however,have been encountered in firing blank cartridges, for the reason thatthe uncontrolled expulsion of gases and the resultant sound waves,especially from the sides of the ordinary firearm, between the barreland throat, frequently ruptures the membrane or ribbon of themicrophone. Other disadvantages are that, due to the confined space ofthe studio, the flame from the gases coming out of the muzzle and sidesof the firearm is apt to set fire to curtains or hangings. The wad ofthe cartridge is also likely to injure a performer or studio assistant.

It has been attempted to overcome these difficulties by shielding thebarrel and throat of the firearm, but due to the construction of thefirearm itself, it has been impossible to completely shield the presentday firearms, and shielded firearms have been unduly heavy, so theshields used at the present day, for standard firearms, have not beensatisfactory.

The principal objects of my invention are to obviate these difficultiesby providing a novel form of foolproof device for firing blankcartridges before a microphone, which is so arranged as to mufile theintensity of the sound of the explosion to a point where damage to themicrophone will be eliminated, and to prevent travel of the wad of thecartridge beyond the end K of the firing device.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device for repeatedlyfiring blank cartridges before a microphone, wherein the cartridge andbarrel are totally enclosed during firing, to eliminate all possibilityof the expulsion of gases and resultant sound waves emanating from thesides of the firing device.

A more specific object of my invention is to provide a device for firingblank cartridges before a microphone, which is of a simple and compact,foolproof and safe form, so arranged that the hammer strikes the firingpin with a side blow and a single movement of a firing lever puts theshell in position for firing and cocks and releases the hammer forfiring, in a novel manner.

Other objects of my invention will appear from time to time as thefollowing specification proceeds and with reference to the accompanyingdrawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a firing device constructed in accordancewith my invention, with certain parts broken away and certain otherparts shown in horizontal section;

Figure 2 is a view in side elevation of the device shown in Figure 1,with certain parts broken away and certain other parts shown inlongitudinal section;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along lines3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view somewhat similar to Figure 3 butwith the parts in a different operative position than in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a view in side elevation of the device shown in Figure 1,with certain parts broken away and certain other parts shown inlongitudinal section;

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 66 of Figure5;

Figure 7 is a sectional view along line 'l'! of Figure 5;

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8-8 of Figure 2;

Figure 9 is an enlarged detail sectional View, showing certain detailsof the firing pin and hammer; and

Figure 10 is an enlarged isometric view of the hammer and sear.

In the drawings, the embodiment of my invention illustrated is shown asbeing adjustably mounted on a base l0, by means of a clamp H, havingclamping engagement with a post l2, projecting upwardly from said base.Said clamp is secured to a frame I 3 of the firing device, on alaterally projecting bracket I4.

The frame I3 of the firing device is herein shown as being of a box-likeconstruction with a detachable forward end plate l5 and a rear coverplate IS. The upper and lower sides of said frame are rectangularlyapertured to form a slidable guide for a cartridge magazine l1, Saidrear cover plate serves as a mounting for the firing mechanism in amanner which will hereinafter more clearly appear as this specificationproceeds, and said frame and cover plates totally enclose the cartridgeduring firing except for an apertured portion in said front cover plate,through which the wad of the cartridge travels.

The magazine ll, as herein shown, is a relatively long bar having aplurality of spaced apart chambers I8, is, for receiving blankcartridges l9, l9. Said magazine is guided for movement through theframe l3 in a box-like guide formed by the front end plate l5 and achannelled guide member 20, projetcing rearwardly from said front takensubstantially substantially end plate. Said guide member and theapertures in the top and bottom sides of the frame [3 are of suchdimensions as to prevent travel of said magazine through said guide whenany cartridge of the same caliber as the caliber of the chambers l8, l8of said'magazine, other than zinein position during firing and to permitsaid magazine to be advanced, to place the next cartridge in positionfor firing. The apertures on one side of said magazine serve to permitsaid magazine to be advanced upwardly through said frame as eachcartridge is fired, and the apertures on the other side of said magazineserve to permit said magazine to be held in position during the firingoperation. -A,shield-2l is adapted to fit around the lower .part of saidmagazine, to

hold the blankcartridges, beneath said frame, in

place. Said shield may be hooked to the frame l3 bya hook 22, andmayberemoved when reloading the device (see Figure 2).

A pawl consisting of a yieldably mounted pin 24 extends through anopening 25 formed in one side of the channelled guide member 20, and isadapted to engage certain of the apertures 23, to hold the magazine H inposition during firing (see Figures '6 and '7). Said pin ismounted onthe free end of a leaf spring 25, secured at its other end to one sideof theguide member 20. i

The engaging end of said pin is beveled in .a direction to permit saidpin to slip out of its respective aperture, upon upward movement ofsaid'magazine.

A pawl 2'! is provided to engage the apertures 23 on the opposite sideof said magazine and advance said magazine to move the next succeedingcartridge in position for firing. Said pawl is pivotally mounted betweenthe bifurcated ends of a rectilinearly movable advancing member 28. Saidadvancing member is guided for movement along the side of the guidemember 28, opposite from the pin 24, by means of a pair of spacedthreaded guide pins 29, 29, threaded in the outer side of said guidemember and engaging slotted portions 30, 30 of said advancing member.- Atension spring 3| is provided to aid in returning said advancing memberand pawl to a position where it may advance the next cartridge into afiring position.

The pawl 21 rides in an elongated slot 32,

formed in the guide member 29, and is held in' engagement with thedesired aperture 23 by means of a leaf spring 33, which is secured tothe side of the guide 2!! at one of its ends, and engages the outer sideof said pawl at its opposite end (see Figure '7). A pin 34 on said pawlserves to limit inward movement thereof.

The advancing member 28 is actuated by a lever 35 (see Figure 5). A pin.36., projecting from said member, is adapted toengagea slot 31 formed inone end of said lever. Said lever is pivotally mounted intermediate itsends on the guide ZB and; its end opposite from; said pin and slot has adepending rod 38 pivotally connected thereto. As herein shown, said rodis threaded through a member. 39a, which is pivotally mounted on theendof said lever,-and said rod extends through the bottom of saidcasing, for adjustment. .Ifdesired, a suitable locking screw.

(not shown) may be provided to hold said rod from movement with respectto said member. A collar 39 is provided on said rod and is adapted to beengaged by a lever arm 40, mounted on a shaft 4|, journaled in the rearcover it. A firing lever 43 is mounted on the outer end of said shaft.Upon movement of said firing lever in a downward firing direction, thefree end of the lever arm 40 will engage the collar 39. This will movethe threaded rod 33 in a downward direction and cause the slotted end ofthe lever 35 to move in an upward direction, to move the advancingmember 28 and pawl 2'! in a direction to move the magazine I! upwardlyand place a cartridge in position for firing.

A firing pin 44 is slidably mounted at one of its ends in an aperturedportion of the rear end of the channelled guide 20, and at its-oppositeend in a chamber 45.. Said chamber is secured to the rear outer side ofthe guide 26. The outer end of said firing pin is of an enlarged roundedformation and extends through the rear end of said chamber. Said firingpin is encircled by a spring 46, which is interposed between the outerside of the guide 20 and a collar 41, disposed adjacent said roundedformation, to positively move said firing pin into a retracted position,after the cartridge has been fired.

A hammer 49, movable in a direction to engage the rounded end of thefiring pin 44 with a side blow, is provided. Said hammer is pivotallymounted on the rear cover plate IE on a threaded pin 50, and, as hereinshown, is of an inverted L-shaped formation, when mounted on said coverplate. One leg of said hammer is provided with a transversely beveledfiring end 5|, which is adapted to engage the rounded end of the firingpin (see Figures9 and 10). The other leg of said hammer is adapted to beengaged by the end of a rod 52, slidablymounted in a member 53, which ispivoted on the rear cover plate. A collar 54 is mounted on said memberadjacent its end, opposite the member 53, and is'abutted by a spring 55,encircling said rod and interposed between said collar and member, tofire, said hammer when released.

A sear 56 is pivoted on the hammer 49 by means of a threaded pin 5l,-an-d when in an extended position projects outwardly therefrom in adirection perpendicular to the leg of said hammer, which has the beveledfiring end thereon (see Figure 10). A spring 58 is. providedto urge saidsear to an extended, position, and engage its lower end with a stop 5.9on said ha-mmer.

The cartridge is fired by thefiring lever or crank 43 on the shaft 4!,iournale'd in the cover plate IS. A lever 6U ismountedz. on said, shaftinside of the casing l3. and extends from said shaft ina directiondirectly opposltefrom the lever arm 43. uprightlink 6l is pivoted to theend of the'lever 68 andis slidablyengaged with a pin 62, by means of a,tension spring 63. Said tension spring is secured to, a pin 64 at theupper end of said lever, and projects in- Wardly from ,said'leven, Saidpin is adapted to engage the upper side ofthe, end of the sear 56, uponmovement of the firing'lever 43 to a return uprightypositicn, and pivotsaid sear in a downward direction against the'spring 53, so said pin maypass by the end of said sear and return to a position to cook thehammer,as may be seen by broken lines in Figure 3. After the firing lever 43 isin a return upright position, firing of the cartridge is effected by adownward movement thereof. This moves the link 6! up wardly until thepin 64 engages the sear adjacent its end. Further movement of saidfiring lever causes the pin 64 to engage the lower side of the end ofsaid sear and move the hammer 49 against the compression spring 55 untila point is reached where the end of said sear is released from said pin.The spring 55 then instantaneously pivots said hammer in a downwarddirection, to engage the beveled portion thereof with the rounded end ofthe firing pin 44 and fire the cartridge. A stop 66 is provided to limitmovement of said hammer. After firing, the spring 63 will return thefiring lever in position for firing the next shot.

Upon movement of the firing lever 43 in a firing direction to cock thehammer 49, the lever arm 40 on the shaft 4| will move downwardly toengage the collar 39. This will pivot the lever 35 in a clockwisedirection through the rod 38, simultaneously upon cocking of the hammer,and move the magazine upwardly to place the cartridge in position forfiring, as has hereinbefore been described.

A safety 67 is provided, to prevent firing ex cept upon manual movementof the firing lever 43. Said safety has an upper beveled or wedgeshapedend and a depending shank which isguided between pins 69, 69, mounted inthe rear cover I6. When said safety is in an operative position, itsrear side engages the stop 65 and its opposite beveled side engages thehammer 49 to hold said hammer out of engagement with the firing pin 44,and prevent movement of said hammer into a position to depress saidfiring pin, and fire the shot. The lower end of said safety is forked,and the forked portion thereof extends along opposite sides of a pin 70projecting from the lever arm 60 in an opposite direction fromsaid arm.Said safety thus moves in an upward direction upon upward movement ofthe firing lever, to hold the hammer from firing, except when the firinglever is manually moved in a firing direction.

Referring now in particular to the novel arrangement of the barrel ofthe firing device, for dampening the sound vibrations caused by theexplosion of the cartridge to the extent necessary to prevent rupture ofthe microphone mem brane or ribbon, and the arrangement for preventingthe wad from traveling beyond the firing device, a shield ll is provided(see Figures 1 and 2). Said shield has a restricted forward end 72 andis coaxial with an opening 13 in the forward end plate l5, through whichthe wad travels,

upon firing of the cartridge. Said shield is herein shown as beingthreaded in a flanged collar M, secured to the outer side of saidforward end plate, and with said collar forms a tight joint at saidcover, to prevent the expulsion of gases from the side of the firingdevice.

A barrel #5 of the firing device is disposed within said shield and isspaced equidistantly from the walls thereof. Said barrel is threadedwithin a flanged sleeve 15, which is secured to the outer side of theplate i 5. Said barrel is provided with a plurality of spaced apartapertures 11, 77 throughout its length. The forward end of said barrelis closed by a stop 18, which is adapted to be engaged by the wad uponfiring of the cartridge and break the direct travel of the wad beyondthe end of said barrel. An opening 19 is provided just rearwardly ofsaid stop to permit the wad to drop out of said barrel into the shieldH.

stantial If desired, an opening may be provided in the lower side ofsaid shield beneath the opening 19, and suitable means may be providedto catch the wads.

It should here be noted that the forces of the gases are such as toexpel the wads, which drop into said shield, through the opening in theend of said shield, but are not sufficient to propel the wad withsuflicient force to cause damage or in-- jury to a bystander.

It may thus be seen that a device for firing blank cartridges before amicrophone has been provided, to simulate the sound of gunshots, whichis so arranged as to totally enclose the cartridge and eliminate allbreakages or openings between the cartridge chamber and barrel, and thusprevent leakage or expulsion of gasses from the sides of the firingdevice; and that the apertured barrel and shield encircling said barrelare arranged to dampen the sound vibrations caused by the sound of theexplosion to the extent necessary to prevent rupture of the membrane orribbon of the microphone, but not sufficient to prevent the sound of theexplosion of the cartridge from being realistic.

It may also be seen that a novel and safe form of mechanism has beenprovided for rapidly firing a plurality of cartridges by side blows froma hammer, which is arranged in a simplified manner so that a singlemovement of a firing lever will put a shell in position for firing andsimultaneously cock and release the hammer for firing.

While I have herein shown and described one form in which my inventionmay be embodied, it will be understood that the construction thereof andthe arrangement of the various parts may be altered without departingfrom the spirit and scope thereof. Furthermore, I do not wish to beconstrued as limiting my invention to the specific embodimentillustrated, excepting as it may be limited in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an apparatus for firing blank cartridges before a microphone, achamber for receiving a blank cartridge, and means for dampening theintensity of the sound waves of the explosion of said cartridgeincluding a barrel, the sides of said barrel being apertured in aplurality of places throughout the length thereof and the front end ofsaid barrel being closed, in communication with said chamber andextending forwardly therefrom, and a shield encircling and spaced fromsaid barrel and projecting a subdistance beyond the forward end thereof.

2. In an apparatus for firing blank cartridges before a microphone, achamber for receiving a blank cartridge, and means for dampening theintensity of the sound waves of the explosion of said cartridgeincluding a barrel, the sides of said barrel being apertured in aplurality of places throughout the length thereof and the front end ofsaid barrel being closed, in communication with said chamber andextending forwardly therefrom, and a shield encircling and spaced fromsaid barrel and projecting beyond the forward end thereof, said shieldpreventing the emanation of gases from the sides of said device andhaving a restricted open forward end spaced a substantial distance aheadof said apertured barrel.

3. In an apparatus for firing blank cartridges before a microphone, acasing, a shield projecting from said casing, a cartridge chambercoaxial with the longitudinal axis of said shield and opening into saidshield, a barrel communicating with and extending from said cartridgechamber, the sides of said barrel being apertured in a plurality ofplaces throughout the length thereof and the front end of said barrelbeing closed, said casing enclosing said cartridge except: for theopening through said cartridge chamber into said barrel, and saidshieldwith saidncasing forming an enclosure to prevent the expulsion ofgases from the sides of said firing device.

4. In an apparatus for firingblank cartridges before a microphonaacasing, a shield projecting from said casing, a cartridge chambercoaxial with the longitudinal axis of said shield and opening into saidshield, said casing enclosing said cartridge except for the openingthrough said cartridge chamber into said shield, said shield with saidcasing forming an enclosure to prevent the expulsion of gases from thesides of said firing device, and a barrel disposed within said shieldand coaxial with the longitudinal axis thereof, the sides of said barrelbeing apertured. throughout the length thereof and the end of saidbarrel being closed, to dampen the intensity of the sound waves causedby the explosion of said cartridge.

5. In an apparatus for firing blank cartridges before a microphone, acasing, a shield projecting from said casing, a cartridge chambercoaxial with the longitudinal axis of said shield and opening into saidshield, said casing enclosing said cartridge except for the openingthrough said cartridge chamber into said shield, and said shield withsaid casing forming an enclosure to prevent the expulsion of gases fromthe sides of said firing device, a barrel disposed within said shieldand coaxial with the longitudinal axis thereof, the sides of said barrelbeing apertured in a plurality of places throughout the length thereof,to dampen the intensity of the sound waves caused by the explosion ofsaid cartridge, and a stop on the forward end of said barrel, to stopthe direct travel of the Wad of the cartridge.

6. In an apparatus of the class described, a

chamber for a blank cartridge, a firing pin, means for actuating saidfiring pin, and means for dampening the intensity of the vibration ofthe sound waves of the explosion of said cartridge and stopping thetravel of thewad from said cartridge including a forwardly projectingbarrel in communication with said chamber, said barrel having a closedforward end and the sidesof said barrel being-provided with a pluralityof apertured portions throughout the length thereof, and a shield spacedfrom and encircling said barrel.

7. In a firing device for cartridges, a frame, a cartridge magazineguided for movement through said frame, a cover for the rear of saidframe, and meansmounted on said frame forsuccessively firing thecartridges in saidmagazine including a hammer pivotally mounted on saidcover for movement in a' direction-transverse-to-the cartridge aboutan-axis perpendicular tothe inner surface of saidcover, a firing leverpivotally mounted on said cover, and a connection between said firinglever and hammer for cocking said hammer and releasing it to fire thecartridgewith a side blow.

8. Ina device-for firing cartridges, a magazine for receiving aplurality of blank cartridges, a frame in which said magazine isslidably guided, a firing pin for successively firing the cartridges insaid magazine, a hammer for actuating said firing pin, said hammer beingmovable transversely of said firing pin about an axis parallel to thelongitudinal axis of said pin and having a beveled end, for engagingsaid firing pin with a side blow, and means for cooking and releasingsaid hammer including a sear pivotally and yieldably mounted on saidhammer,-a member adapted toengage said sear and cock said hammer and afiring lever for actuating said member, and a pawl engaging saidmagazine and actuated by movement of said firing lever in a firingdirection, to move said magazine in a direction to position thecartridge in position for firing.

TODD MAYNARD.

. CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION. Patent No. 2,276,056.

March 10, 19!;2. TODD MAYNARD.

0nd column, lines 11.7 to 52, and 60 to 65, inclusive, claims 1 and 2,re-

spectively, for "barrel; the sides of said barrel being apertur-ed in a:

Henry Van Arsdale, (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents.

. j CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION; Patent No. 2,276,056. March 10, 19h2.

' TODD MAYNARD.

of the above numbered patent requiring correction as-follov vs: Pag 5-,second column, lines 1;? to 52, and 60' to 65, inclusive, claims 1 ahd2, re-

spectively, for "barrel, the sidea of said barrel being aperttred iii a.

Henry Ji'rsdale, (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents.

